Foundations team up to provide support for local nonprofit services to immigrants, refugees

Funders commit $450,000 to support services to those populations over next two years

Some providers may not be able to sustain operations without additional funding

Several foundations are teaming up to provide coordinated support for nonprofit services to immigrants and refugees in the region, in the wake of declines in federal funding for the services under the Trump administration that have left nonprofits struggling to keep up with demand.

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Troy-based Kresge Foundation and California-based Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees network of local, state, and national funders have come together to form the Southeast Michigan Immigrant and Refugee Funder Collaborative.

The new group has committed $450,000 over two years to support nonprofits providing services to immigrants and refugees in eight Southeast Michigan counties: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, St. Clair and Livingston counties.

The California-based national group, which has nudged creation of similar groups in other states, is providing $200,000 to match contributions from the Michigan foundations and technical assistance, the Community Foundation said.

"Organizations serving refugees and immigrants are facing increased financial pressures due to decreases in federal assistance and the need for supporting these members of our community is growing," Mariam Noland, president of the Community Foundation, said in a release.

"The goal of the Southeast Michigan Immigrant and Refugee Funder Collaborative is to provide a coordinated, philanthropic effort to support immigrant- and refugee-serving nonprofit organizations and address the needs of their constituents in our region."

Beyond providing funding for those services and better coordination of philanthropic support, grants made through the collaborative will seek to improve public perception of immigrants and refugees and access to services, issues identified in a Public Sector Consultants report commissioned by the Community Foundation, Kresge and the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation.

The new collaborative is working with nonprofit service providers to figure out the grant-making priorities for the fund and the most effective use of the dollars over the next two years, said Surabhi Pandit, senior program officer at the Community Foundation, which is administering the new fund.

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Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

SurabhiPandit, senior program officer, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

"We know this amount of money will not address all issues, but hopefully, it will be a first step to catalyze additional support," she said.

"The organizations we've talked to say no matter what happens at the federal level, they're not turning people away."

Rising grant requests

Increased grant requests for English as second language and translation, human services case management, legal assistance, transportation, job training and other services for immigrants and refugees, along with conversations with Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees spurred the funders collaborative, Pandit said. Those requests were coming both from nonprofits that had seen declines in federal funding and from other service providers that hadn't received federal dollars.

While fewer immigrants and refugees are being admitted to the U.S. under the Trump administration, needs among those already living in the U.S. have continued and increased, Pandit said.

For example, refugees from war-torn areas may just now be seeing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms that need to be addressed. Or people with credentials in areas like medical, engineering and law may now be at a point where they need help translating those skills and expertise to American job requirements.

"We want to be responsive because we know the needs continue to evolve," Pandit said.

"We need to make sure we're all having conversations together and not making investments in an isolated way, because we want to be most helpful to the people we're trying to serve."

As Crain's reported last year, nonprofits providing services to immigrants and refugees have struggled with shifts in federal policy.

To continue providing services to refugees already here, resettlement agencies have sought alternative funding such as grants from private funders and looked to local churches and community groups for help.

Funding for immigrant and refugee services has significantly decreased in recent years, along with the number of refugees coming to the region, according to the newly released report from Public Sector Consultants, which was funded by the Community Foundation, Kresge and the Detroit-based Skilllman Foundation.

The declines have taken place in funding coming to Michigan through the Refugee Cash Assistance program and the Refugee Medical Assistance program, as well as support to refugees through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, Public Sector said.

The report includes data about local, state and federal funding and feedback from stakeholder and thought leaders on the region's ability to address the needs of that population.

Among other things, it noted:

There are over 600,000 foreign-born individuals in Michigan, and over 70 percent live in Southeast Michigan.

From fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2018, Michigan ranked fourth in the number of refugees it took in, behind Texas, California and New York.

The number of refugees entering Michigan dropped 85.7 percent to 610 people in fiscal 2018 from 4,258 in fiscal 2016.

Four nonprofits providing services to local refugees and immigrants operate on budgets greater than $10 million in 2015/16: Samaritas, with an annual average budget exceeding $100 million; Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services; Arab American and Chaldean Council; and the Michigan Advocacy Program.

Eight other organizations had revenues and expenditures greater than $1 million: Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan, Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County, Southwest Solutions, Chaldean Community Foundation, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, Chaldean Federation of America, Zaman International and Michigan United.

Most of the Southeast Michigan nonprofits are reacting proactively, Public Sector said in the report. "But some may not be able to sustain operations without additional funding sources."